Fives and Sixes
by joiedevivre2011
Summary: Variation of a tumblr prompt. Short summary: Frankie brings Maura home for Thanksgiving. [Rizzles...obviously] [Five-shot...I think.]
1. Chapter 1

**This was originally requested as an AU teen Rizzles (by an Anon tumblr ask), but I don't really do teen stuff, so this is college-age and only because this exact scenario just kinda popped into my head.**

_**For the purposes of this story, we're going to assume that Frankie and Maura, a sophomore and a senior respectively, attend the same university in Boston, but one too far from the Rizzoli residence for him to commute every day. Specific details really don't matter. Seriously. They don't. And casualbarnowl on tumblr approved of this note...as well as this fic. **_

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><p><strong><em>The week before Thanksgiving<em>**

"Ma, can I bring a friend from school home for Thanksgiving?" Frankie asked almost immediately after his mother answered the phone.

Angela replied, "Well of course, but doesn't he have family to spend the holiday with?"

"She said her parents will be out of the country, so I thought maybe I could ask her if she wanted to come home with me," Frankie explained.

"_She_? Frankie, have you got yourself a girlfriend?" Angela shrieked.

In the background Frankie heard Jane yell, "He won't if he brings her home, Ma. You'll scare her off!"

"Hush, Janie! Get outta here," Angela said loudly to her oldest child.

"Ma, she's not really my girlfriend," Frankie said quietly.

"Well then, we'll have to work on that, won't we?" Angela laughed. "Bring her home, that's fine. And bring home your laundry. I know you probably haven't done any in two weeks at least."

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><p><strong><em>The day before Thanksgiving<em>**

Frankie quietly opened the door to his mother's house, trying to avoid being bombarded by the loud, Italian-American woman. As soon as he and his friend Maura stepped inside and Frankie closed the door, Jane was coming down the steps.

"Oh shit, Frankie. Your_ not_-girlfriend is pretty hot," Jane exclaimed as she reached the bottom step, winking at the petite, well-dressed honey blonde standing next to her younger brother.

"E-Excuse me?" Maura replied, eyes wide.

"She's kidding," Frankie said, looking at Maura.

Jane smirked and stuck out her hand to shake the blonde's. "Not about the hot part. I'm Jane. Ma thought Frankie was bringing home a girlfriend."

Maura swallowed noticeably and gave her an awkward smile as she grasped the proffered hand and shook it firmly. "Oh, well Frankie and I are only friends, I assure you. I'm Maura." When Jane grinned widely, her dimples popping, Maura felt as if the wind was being knocked out of her. Her stomach was suddenly in knots because of this tall, beautiful, yet crass woman.

The disappointed look on Frankie's face, however, didn't go unnoticed by Jane. Totally crushing hard, Jane knew.

"You're probably too good for my loser little brother anyway," she replied, punching Frankie lightly in the arm. She looked to Maura. "I can grab your stuff. You're sleeping in my room anyway."

"Why you gotta be such a jerk, Janie?" Frankie grumbled.

"Ah, c'mon. You know I'm just kidding. Maura would be lucky to date you," she said, winking again at Maura.

The knots in Maura's stomach tightened. She liked Frankie a lot, and she knew he could very well be a good boyfriend, but she couldn't force attraction and she didn't have the heart to tell him just yet that she identified primarily as a lesbian. His older sister, on the other hand, made her nervous in the best way possible. Realizing Jane had asked for her valises, she startled out of her brief reverie and quietly said, "I can carry everything. It's fine."

"My Ma would kill me if I made you carry it all." She grinned again. "Better hand it over if you want me to stay alive."

Maura couldn't help but return the smile. "Well then, I certainly wouldn't want any deaths this weekend." She handed her bags over to Frankie's sister.

Just then, Angela Rizzoli hurried into the small foyer, a spatula in her hand, almost close enough to pull the blonde into a quick hug. "God, Frankie, she's gorgeous!"

"Ma, stop," Jane said quickly, throwing out her hand to stop her mother after noticing Maura tense up out of the corner of her eye.

Frankie groaned, smacking his hand over his face.

Angela stood where her daughter had stopped her and smiled. "Welcome, honey. I'm glad you're here," she said warmly.

Maura relaxed. "Thank you for allowing me to be here."

"Our pleasure. Glad Frankie's making some friends at school," Angela replied quietly. The older woman then turned to her son. "You come do dishes while I finish up baking these pies."

"Can't I at least put my stuff in my room?"

"Hurry up!" she said, turning on her heel and heading back into the kitchen.

"Alright, let's go upstairs," Jane said, turning back toward the stairs. Maura dutifully followed Jane and Frankie followed behind his friend, with Jane and Frankie each going to their own rooms.

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><p>"You and Frankie really aren't dating?" Jane asked, lifting an eyebrow, setting Maura's stuff beside her bed before sitting on the end of the bed.<p>

"Oh no, definitely not," Maura quickly refuted. "He's very nice, but he's not really my type."

Jane laughed. "God, don't tell him that. It'll break his heart."

"Frankie likes me?" Maura asked.

"Really?" Jane asked. "You can't tell?"

"I receive a lot of attention from men," Maura said softly, as she decided to sit beside the brunette. "So much so that I typically just tune it out."

"Me too. It sucks, especially when they find out I'm in the police academy. Get lots of comments about using handcuffs." Jane laughed, looking over at Maura. "So if Frankie isn't your type, what exactly _is_your type?"

"You," Maura blurted out. She then gasped, eyes wide, as she put her hand over her mouth. Her face turned red. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that!"

Jane snickered. "Well, what did you mean to say?"

Maura hesitated a moment, unsure if she should really divulge this information so quickly after meeting her friend's sister. For some reason she felt that Jane could be trusted. "I typically identify as a five on the Kinsey scale," Maura said quietly.

After a moment, Jane confessed, "Okay, I have no idea what that is."

"The Kinsey scale is a heterosexual-homosexual rating scale from zero to six, with zero being exclusively heterosexual and six being exclusively homosexual," Maura explained.

Jane smirked at her for a moment before speaking. "A five. So…you're a lesbian?"

Maura nodded.

"But I guess a five would mean," Jane replied, then paused for a moment while thinking, "that you wouldn't entirely rule out men?"

"Something like that, yes," Maura agreed.

"Oh, this is priceless," Jane replied, laughing while she fell back on the bed.

"I'm not sure why you're laughing. How could you possibly find it amusing that I'm a lesbian?" Maura replied indignantly, standing up and turning around to face the brunette who was still laughing on the bed.

Immediately Jane sobered and propped herself up on her elbows to look at the petite woman before her, who had her hands on her hips and was glaring. "No, I don't mean it like that. It's just…Frankie brings home a girl he thinks he has a chance with and has _no_ idea she's a lesbian."

Some of the anger faded from Maura's demeanor. "I'm still not sure why you find that funny."

"Because the only Rizzoli you'd date is me," Jane replied, resuming her laughter.

"Well I don't think I would unless—"

"A total six," Jane explained.

"I'm sorry?" Maura replied, her brow furrowing.

"On that scale thing. I'm a six." Jane smirked again.

Maura felt as if her heart had leapt into her throat, even though she knew it wasn't at all possible. The weekend had certainly just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

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><p>Please tell me what you think. If I do continue this, it'll be quite short...definitely under five chapters, but probably only three.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Holy mother of Rizzles. (Would you consider that Tamaro, or Angie and Sasha? Which would be _mothers_ technically, but I digress). I wasn't even serious when I started writing this, but apparently a LOT of you readers like it, so I guess I needed to become serious. Probably won't take very long to finish this up, seeing as I've also already written chapter 3. I think this will end up at 5 chapters, actually. Oops?

I hope you enjoy. :)

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><p>Family dinner with actual banter and questions was something foreign to Maura, but she found that she rather enjoyed the dynamic. Angela sat at the head of the table, with Jane and Tommy to her right, and Frankie and Maura to her left.<p>

While the conversation varied on mundane topics at first, eventually Angela, in typical fashion, tried to shift the discussion to Jane and the police academy.

"Ma, c'mon! I don't wanna talk about academy stuff. Let's talk about Frankie and _his_ life instead," Jane suggested with a smug expression, looking across the table at her younger brother.

"Fine," Angela agreed as she turned to her eldest son. "How are your classes? Are you still making good grades?" Angela grilled him. "Have you finished your final papers and projects? Ready for exams?"

Frankie glared across the table at Jane, but answered his mother dutifully. "They're fine. I only have one paper left to write and I have to study next week for finals."

"Good. Don't you dare fail a class! I expect all As or Bs, young man," Angela told him sternly.

"Yeah, I got it under control, Ma. Maura's definitely helping me in calculus. It's harder than I thought it would be. Definitely not like pre-cal I took senior year."

"Oh!" Angela's eyes lit up. "Is that how you two met? In calculus class?" She looked to Maura for a response.

"No, though I actually am a peer tutor in the campus learning center. Frankie and I met at a-"

"The dining hall," Frankie interrupted.

The interruption made Jane take notice. "Dining hall, huh?" Jane asked. "What'd ya do? Spill a drink on her?" When Maura looked over at Jane nervously, Jane noticed a faint redness across Maura's upper chest and her brow furrowed. Maura bit her lip.

Frankie cleared his throat and lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You didn't!" Angela exclaimed. "You spilled a drink on this lovely young woman?"

Maura smiled awkwardly at her friend's mother, quickly trying to find a way around the lie Frankie had told. "Unfortunately he did, entirely by accident of course, but I didn't mind so much because I was wearing an older dress." She looked for a moment at Frankie, still smiling, then said, "He did escort me back to my apartment since it was late. Very gentlemanly of him."

Frankie's face reddened and he looked down at his plate.

It was all Jane could do not to burst into laughter. She loved her brother, but he was clueless when it came to girls.

"So Maura, what year are you?" Jane asked, suddenly very interested in learning more about this captivating woman.

"I'm in my third year, but I'm graduating next spring," Maura replied, holding Jane's eye contact.

"Then you're a genius, huh?" Jane smiled, making sure it was wide enough to show off her dimples. "So you're what, 21?" She was definitely interested now.

Maura blushed and dipped her head. "Actually I'm only 20." She slowly looked back up and met Jane's curious, dark eyes.

"Wow, sweetheart!" Angela exclaimed. "You're so young to be graduating from college!"

The blonde smiled and looked to Frankie's mother. "I, uh, also skipped a grade."

Finally, Frankie spoke back up, looking at his friend. "You never told me that."

"Well, Frankie, you never asked," Maura replied teasingly.

Jane couldn't hold back a laugh this time. "I'm sure there's still lots you don't know about Maura."

Fear flashed across Maura's face and she sucked in a breath.

Seeing Maura's face, quickly Jane continued, "I mean, you've only known each other a couple of months, right?" She noticed the terror fade from Maura's expression.

Frankie shrugged, but agreed. "That's true." He then looked at Maura and said, "Guess I gotta keep ya around if I wanna know more, huh?"

Maura chuckled lightly and nodded.

It was then that Tommy finally broke his silence, having brooded the entire time about being forced to eat dinner with everyone. "Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked.

Hazel eyes momentarily flashed to Jane's dark brown ones and Jane looked down, biting her lip. "No," she answered Tommy politely. "No boyfriends."

"Girlfriend?" Tommy asked.

"Tommy!" Angela admonished.

The question caught Maura off guard and she began choking on the sip of water she'd taken. Before anyone could do anything, she held up her hand, simply coughed a few times, and finally cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting that question." Her eyes quickly scanned from Angela's to Tommy's, crossing Jane's for only a fraction of a second. "No, I cannot say that I have a girlfriend, Tommy."

Maura definitely caught the smirk on Jane's face in her peripheral vision. The tall, sassy brunette was definitely getting to her.

"Why not?" Tommy asked.

"Give it up, Tommy," Frankie said. "You don't stand a chance. You're not even legal!"

Jane snorted.

"Neither do you, idiot," Tommy shot back. "She's too smart for you. And definitely too hot."

For some reason Jane couldn't help herself. "Does that mean I've got a chance then?" she deadpanned.

The entire table went silent, all turning to look at Maura. "I, uhm..."

"Okay, that's enough." Clearly wanting to change the subject, Angela asked Maura, "Not to pry, but have you decided what you want to do after you graduate?"

"Oh, I'm going to medical school," Maura replied confidently.

Proudly Frankie added, "She wants to study forensic pathology."

Jane's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You wanna cut open dead bodies for a living?"

"Honestly, Jane, could you not say things like that at the dinner table, at least?" Angels groaned.

Hands gestured upwards in defeat. "Well that's what forensic pathologists do, Ma!"

A brief glare from Maura was directed at Jane as her lips formed into a thin line. Relaxing her face once again, Maura said, "I prefer to think of it as helping to bring justice for the living as well as the dead, if in fact, there needs to be justice."

"That's an eloquent way to put it," Jane replied. She thrust out her chin toward Frankie, still looking at Maura, and asked, "Did Frankie over there tell you that I'm gonna be a homicide detective?"

While shaking her head no, Maura reached over and poked Frankie in the arm, only briefly breaking eye contact from Jane. "He definitely didn't."

Frankie only looked up at his friend and shrugged.

Angela shifted her eyes from Frankie to Maura to Jane and then back to Maura. The fact that Maura had been so surprised by the question Tommy asked combined with the looks Jane and Maura kept giving each other made Angela begin to wonder if Maura even had romantic interest in Frankie at all. She decided she'd need to pay more attention this weekend to see exactly what situation was undoubtedly going to happen. "Dessert?" Angela finally asked.

Everyone looked to the Rizzoli matriarch, saying yes in unison. Only Maura's had a _please_ on the end of it.

"Tommy, would you help me?" Angela asked her youngest son quietly.

The youngest Rizzoli's shoulders slumped at his mother's question, and with no feeling in his verbal agreement, he scooted back his chair to stand up and help his mother bring back dessert to the table.

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><p>Thoughts? Predictions? Jokes? (Okay, maybe not really jokes unless you have some extremely good ones.)<p>

Another thanks to **casualbarnowl** for being my beta. She's sassy and leaves random words and phrases in my stories for me to find. Like something about pancakes. Or potatoes.


	3. Chapter 3

If you're at university and you're thinking about going to grad school, think long and motherfrickin' hard about it. It's no joke. My brain hurts all the time.

Anywho, right now it looks like this will be ending at five chapters. :)

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><p><em>Later that night<em>

"So obviously my bed's big enough for two, but we have an air mattress for when we have friends over, so I'm just going to sleep on it," Jane said softly, pointing to the twin size air mattress, already inflated, that was leaning up against a nearby wall.

"No no, I don't want to displace you," Maura replied. "I'm fine sharing the bed, if you are? Or I could sleep on the air mattress. I don't mind."

"Not a chance. Ma would definitely get mad about that, too."

"Ah yes, and we want this holiday to remain death-free, though I suppose aside from the gruesome history of Thanksgiving itself," Maura began to ramble nervously. "Even though it wasn't officially established as a-"

"Maura, it's fine." Jane smiled. "We can sleep in the same bed if you're cool with it."

The honey blonde cleared her throat. "I must warn you that I do have a tendency to gravitate toward another person sharing a bed with me."

Jane lifted an eyebrow. "How could I possibly get mad about waking up to a beautiful woman curled against me?"

Maura blushed and looked down, biting her lip. She could feel the butterflies flitting around in her stomach again. When she looked back up, Jane had a slightly smug look on her face. Taking a deep breath, Maura then quietly said, "Okay, I'm going to get ready for bed, if you don't mind."

"Sure. Which side of the bed do you want?"

"Which side do you sleep on?" Maura asked.

"Which side do you _want_?"

With a sigh, the honey blonde said, "I'll take this side," and touched the foot of the bed where she was standing.

"Perfect, I sleep on the other anyway." Jane smiled at her.

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><p>As they were lying there in the dark, both on their backs, they each kept thinking about the other being so close.<p>

Maura was wildly attracted to Jane.

Jane was wildly attracted to Maura.

Frankie, on the other hand, had been completely oblivious during dinner.

Everything Maura said at dinner, Jane made it a point to remember for later. She liked forensic pathology, she skipped a grade in school, she was graduating from college in only three years. When Maura looked at Jane, Jane had to remind herself to breathe. Every glance, every bitten lip, every smile, it all fueled Jane more. Several girls over the years had caught Jane's eye, but none of them like Maura Isles. The thought of "stealing" Maura from Frankie, however, turned Jane's stomach. As much as she wanted to see if something could happen between her and Maura, she could never just _do_ it when Frankie thought he still somehow had a chance.

All Maura wanted to do was roll onto her side facing Jane and ask her if she could kiss her. She'd never felt such strong attraction before and she was finding it quite difficult not to act upon it. Had it been another situation, another time, another place, Maura would have already done it. She was fairly certain Jane felt something between them too, but the last thing she wanted to do was break Frankie's heart. He was such a nice guy and Maura didn't really have that many friends, at least not as close as Frankie, who wasn't even really that close. It did anger Maura a bit, however, that once again, Frankie didn't want to be her _friend_, he wanted to be her _boyfriend._ Then there was the whole issue of Jane being Frankie's sister.

Maura let out a sigh.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jane asked quietly.

"I don't know that you'd want to hear them," Maura replied, biting her lip. Her hands were clasped together on her stomach and she rubbed a thumb over her other hand nervously. Little did she know that Jane was doing the same things with her own hands.

"Oh believe me, I do," Jane assured her.

"Frankie is," Maura began, then hesitated. "He's very nice, handsome too, but I can't help but feel slighted that once again, a man isn't interested in really being my friend. He has ulterior motives. I've been hesitant to tell Frankie about my sexuality, but I couldn't really put a finger on why."

"Your gut told you not to."

"I don't listen to my intestines, Jane," Maura contested.

"Fine, call it intuition, or something else entirely, but something told you not to," Jane replied, shifting to turn over on her side to face Maura, despite very low light in the room. "But you'd known me all of ten minutes and you told me. Why?"

"I'm a little hesitant to tell you why I did," Maura replied quietly, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"When I asked you what your type is, you automatically blurted out _you_," Jane said. "Did you mean it because I'm a girl, or because I'm the type of girl you like?"

Maura couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Hello?" Jane said, reaching out through the darkness to poke Maura's arm. "I know you didn't fall asleep that fast."

"Both," Maura said so softly that Jane almost didn't hear her.

"Good, we're on the same page then." Jane smiled to herself, though relieved that Maura couldn't see it.

"And what page would that be?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I'm _your_ type and you're _my_ type."

"Your type is an average height, socially awkward blonde whose IQ is well past the mark for a genius?"

"No, my type is a gorgeous blonde genius whose hazel eyes make me never want to look away," Jane replied earnestly.

The butterflies returned and Maura swallowed hard. "I wouldn't be surprised if you've said modified versions of that line to many women."

"Why would you think that?" Jane felt a little hurt by the other woman's statement.

"So far you seem like someone who knows exactly how to get a woman to fall in love with you," Maura said quietly.

"Well now I'm just outright offended," Jane teased.

Maura sighed again. "I didn't mean to offend. I only meant," Maura then paused, feeling exasperated because she didn't know how to describe what she was feeling. "You're charming, gorgeous, confident. I'm not saying you'd say just anything charismatic merely to draw in a woman, but your words and how you say them just-"

"Make the ladies swoon?" Jane then chuckled.

"No. Well maybe, but certainly not me, seeing as I am still conscious and speaking to you. It just seems that you know what to say to make a woman feel good about herself."

Jane smirked. "I make you feel good about yourself?"

Maura's hands slapped against the bed in frustration. "You are so infuriating."

"Okay, so I _do_ have a thing for gorgeous blondes," Jane conceded softly. "I can't lie there. But I can promise you I've never met a girl with eyes who made me want to not look away, so I've definitely never said that to any woman."

Suddenly Maura started laughing, clamping her hand over her mouth.

"What the hell? Why are you laughing?" Jane asked, poking Maura in the arm again.

"I'm so sorry," Maura managed to say despite her laughter. A couple of moments later, she managed to calm herself. "It's just...your brother invited me here because he's essentially trying to woo me into being his girlfriend, except he doesn't know that I only like women, but here I am in bed beside his sister, who's also a lesbian, and we're all but admitting that we're attracted to each other. It just hit me how amusing this situation really is."

"So you _are_ attracted to me?" The amusement in her voice was unmistakable.

"My heart rate increases in close proximity to you, my hands feel decidedly clammy, and I can't stop thinking about wanting you to kiss me," Maura said softly. "I'd definitely say I feel attracted to you."

"If you tell Frankie, let him down easy, you know, apologize that you unintentionally misled him or whatever, then I _might_ kiss you," Jane replied.

Maura took a deep breath.

"But tonight I think I need to sleep on that air mattress."

"I can sleep-"

"Nope. Stay in my bed."

"Okay," Maura reluctantly agreed.

Jane slowly extracted herself from beneath the covers and set up the air mattress on the floor with a blanket and pillow. She laid there thinking for a minute or so before she quietly asked, "You met Frankie at a party, didn't you?"

Maura bit her lip, knowing she couldn't lie anyway. "Yes," she meekly replied.

"Frat party?"

"Sorority, actually."

"You're in a sorority?" Jane asked in disbelief.

Maura scoffed. "No, a classmate invited me and for once I decided to go." She refrained from adding that she was glad she had.

"Maura," Jane said her name hesitantly. "Was he drinking?"

"I'm not sure," Maura confessed.

"But he spilled his drink on you."

"I," Maura started to reply before hesitating. She didn't want Jane to be mad at Frankie and she didn't want Frankie to be mad at her. "When we got back to my apartment, I simply threw away the dress because it was ruined. I'm not sure if the drink he had contained alcohol, but if it did, he couldn't have consumed much as he didn't show any signs of inebriation."

"Okay," was all Jane said.

"Are you upset?"

"No, because I can't blame him for wanting to try it if he was," Jane replied. "But I'm going to talk to him about it. Make sure he knows he can't do that kind of stuff."

"That's probably for the best," Maura agreed.

Once more the two fell silent.

A few minutes later, Maura said, "Goodnight, Jane."

The blonde's soft voice stirred butterflies in Jane's stomach."'Night," Jane said back. She couldn't help but smile, staring up at the ceiling in the dark.

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><p>Penny for your thoughts, too?<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Next to last chapter! Please tell me what you think. I hope this seems like a realistic/in-character situation. My beta (casualbarnowl) seemed to like it. Hope you do too!

(Note the rating change in preparation for the next chapter...)

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><p>Thanksgiving night, long after Angela had ordered Tommy to bed and retired herself, Jane, Frankie, and Maura remained downstairs, telling her something about seeing one of their favorite movies about to come on television. When Maura announced that she had never seen The Breakfast Club, both Frankie and Jane were horrified.<p>

"Maura, it's a classic!" Jane replied, her jaw dropping.

"Yeah," Frankie agreed, looking over at Maura. "Even I like this movie, so that's saying something."

"Okay," Maura replied hesitantly. "Then I guess let's watch it."

The three of them settled onto the sofa, with Maura sitting between the Rizzoli siblings. When the opening credits began, Jane looked to her left at Maura and smiled. Catching the movement in her peripheral vision, Maura turned her head toward Jane and smiled back.

Despite the circumstances, only a few minutes into the movie, Maura began to wish that she and Jane were alone, that she could just slip her right hand over on the sofa and intertwine her fingers with Jane's. A sudden flash of guilt struck her, knowing that Frankie probably felt the same way about Maura, wishing Jane weren't there, wishing he could hold her hand like Maura wanted to hold Jane's. She knew she had no choice but to tell Frankie that his feelings were unrequited, even though she really thought he was a great guy and would make a great boyfriend...for someone else. She tried to keep from sighing as the weight of the situation settled in her chest.

Just after midnight, a little over an hour into the movie, a very interesting commercial came on the television. "_I may be heading home, but that doesn't mean the night's over_," a platinum blonde woman said in a seductive voice.

Maura's eyes widened.

Frankie and Jane burst out laughing almost simultaneously.

"_In fact, the after party is just getting started_," the woman continued.

"Is this-"

"A phone sex commercial?" Jane finished for Maura.

Maura turned toward the older Rizzoli and nodded.

"So stupid," Frankie muttered. "Who would even want to make these calls?"

It was all Jane could do to maintain composure. "Well, I'm gonna put my money on lonely middle-aged men who can't get a date." After a moment, she continued, "Or maybe an 18 year old boy who also can't get a date."

Frankie looked at his sister and glared.

Jane raised an eyebrow. "I didn't mean you, idiot. Last time I checked you're older than 18?"

His eyes narrowed. "But I can still get a date."

"Yeah, but I bet Korsak can't," Jane joked.

"Ew, no, gross, I don't want to think about Korsak doing...that," Frankie groaned.

Maura suddenly felt lost in the conversation. "I'm sorry, but who's Korsak?" She looked to Jane for an explanation.

Quickly Jane replied, "He's one of my police academy instructors."

"Oh," Maura said. "Well, a study was recently published in the _International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies_ about how women actually find conversations via adult phone chat lines to be enjoyable, especially when exploring one's sexuality. So the demographics are not exclusive to middle-age men and teenage boys."

Frankie's jaw dropped and he stared open mouthed at Maura.

"You, uh, ever called one of those lines, Maura?" Jane joked.

The younger Rizzoli was quick to Maura's defense. "What the hell, Janie? Of course Maura hasn't!"

Maura remained silent and became intently focused on the movie that both Rizzolis knew she had no true interest in.

"Right?" Frankie asked, now wondering if his friend had actually called one of these lines, and if so, if it meant that Maura was trying to explore her own sexuality.

It was only a moment before Maura looked to Frankie and sputtered, "No, no. I haven't. I wouldn't."

Maura's reaction bothered Frankie. "Okay, so why are you acting weird?"

"Maybe she's uncomfortable talking about sexuality, Frankie," Jane replied quietly.

Frankie studied Maura's face for just a minute before saying, "I mean, Jane likes girls. So if you did call just to try it, you don't have to be embarrassed, you know. It's cool."

Maura could feel her neck and chest begin to itch and she lifted a hand to rub the area. She looked away from her friend.

It was then that Frankie actually became concerned about his friend. "Maura, are you okay?"

"I don't have to call," Maura whispered.

Confusion crossed Frankie's face. "What?"

"I don't have to call an adult phone chat line to try and explore my sexuality," Maura said a little louder, finally looking up to meet Frankie's concerned eyes.

"That's cool too, you know." Frankie shrugged. "When Jane told me she liked girls, she just said she just knew and she didn't have to experiment or whatever you wanna call it. It doesn't matter if you've figured it out yet or not. I'm not gonna judge you, and obviously Jane's not either."

"Frankie," Maura said softly, looking down. She could feel the tears clouding her eyes.

Suddenly Jane jumped up from the sofa. "I'm gonna get a Coke. You guys want anything?" She knew this was a conversation that should be held without any audience, even herself, despite already knowing that Maura was a lesbian.

"I'm fine," Maura replied without looking up.

Looking at his sister, Frankie just shook his head.

After Jane fled from the room, Frankie looked back at his friend and asked, "What's going on? Did I hurt your feelings or something? I'm kinda lost right now."

"I already know my sexuality," she replied. She looked back up at him, biting her lip.

"So….if you already know your sexuality, then who are you into? Guys?" Frankie asked.

Maura opened her mouth and closed it a few times trying to figure out how exactly to respond, even though she knew it was as simple as saying_ I only like women_.

Before she had a chance to, Frankie burst back in, though now looking away from Maura. "You got all weird about not needing to call an adult sex line and you weren't even surprised when I said Jane was into girls. Oh god, you're into girls, aren't you? I mean, that's cool, but I just-" He then paused. "I like you and that's kinda why I brought you home," he rambled dejectedly.

"I'm so sorry, Frankie. I never meant to say or do anything to make you think I was interested in being more than friends. You really are a great guy, just not what I'm looking for," Maura replied, trying to reduce the damage.

Frankie was silent for a few moments before looking up at Maura. "It's cool. It sucks 'cause I really do like you, but hey, if you don't like guys, you can't help it, right? But you didn't lead me on or anything. I just…I wanted us to be a thing, so I guess I kinda read into everything." He stopped speaking for a moment, a thought suddenly crossing his mind. "I just said that Jane's a lesbian, and you didn't even seem surprised. Did you two already talk about this or something?"

Maura bit her lip and nodded. "It just kinda...came up yesterday."

Frankie gave a sad smile. "Hey, I'm not mad, even if you did tell her first. I just…wait, you're not into my sister, are you?"

"Lesbians aren't all attracted to each other, Frankie," Maura replied, laughing lightly and shaking her head as she looked down. She rubbed her right thumb back and forth across the palm of her left hand. "But in this case," Maura said, looking back up, "I am. I'm so sorry and I understand if it would be awkward for you if-"

He couldn't help but shrug. "I'll get over it, I guess. You're an amazing person and you're definitely special. I can at least say that my sister wouldn't be a jerk to you," he said, a hint of joking toward the end.

"You'd really be okay with it?" Maura asked hesitantly. She wanted Frankie's full approval because she truly valued his friendship.

Frankie laughed. "Yeah, I guess it's cool. Just don't, like, make out in front of me or anything. _That_ would be weird."

"I agree," Maura replied, laughing with him.

It was then that Jane decided to re-enter. "Okay, I made popcorn, too. You want some?" she asked before slurping soda from the can in her hand.

* * *

><p>The <em>International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies <em>is a real peer-reviewed, academic journal. The "study" Maura references, however, doesn't exist...and it probably never will. haha


	5. Chapter 5

And here we are at the end of the road! I hope you've enjoyed the trip. :)

* * *

><p><em>Saturday<em>

They'd been sitting on Jane's bed for nearly an hour now, silent for at least the last twenty minutes. Maura was on her stomach, lying diagonally with her legs at the left corner of the bed, knees bent with her bare feet in the air, and her head almost toward the middle of the right side of the bed. Back close to the headboard, Jane's legs were spread wide with her feet flat on the bed. The crook of her elbows rested just below her kneecaps as she held a magazine, reading it. Suddenly she let the magazine drop several inches to the bed. "You're seriously telling me that Frankie _actually_ said that I could make a move on the girl he has a crush on?" Jane asked again in disbelief.

Maura rolled her eyes as she looked up from her reading, her body positioning allowing her to look at Jane through her legs. "Yes, Jane. But based on how he worded his approval, I'm inclined to believe he thought I'd be the one making a move on _you_."

"Well, if my memory serves me correctly, I do believe I said if you told Frankie, I might kiss _you_," Jane replied smugly.

"Perhaps I'll kiss you first," Maura said softly, raising her eyebrow in challenge.

Jane smirked.

Never looking away, Maura flipped her textbook closed, picked it up with her right hand, and held it over the side of the bed, letting it drop flat to the floor with a dull thunk. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, then reached for Jane's magazine, tossing it too to the floor.

The smirk on Jane's lips faded and one side of her bottom lip became trapped between her teeth.

The tip of Maura's tongue curled behind her top front teeth and she glanced down briefly at Jane's lips as she began to slowly crawl toward the brunette's legs, which were still bent with her feet flat on the bed.

It was impossible for Jane to keep eye contact when she could see down Maura's low-cut, light green V-neck shirt. While she had planned on it only being a quick glance, she found that it lasted much longer.

"I hope this isn't too forward," Jane said, "but my current view is incredible."

Maura paused her movement while her brow furrowed before she realized Jane was looking at her chest. She bent her head forward to look down at her chest and then lifted it back up with a grin. "I would say normally that's a bit forward, but coming from you, I do find it quite flattering."

The two remained still for a few moments, simply looking at each other with smiles on their faces.

It was Maura who made the slightest movement first, but before she could even get a hand forward, Jane leaned forward and pressed her lips against the blonde's. Ironically the kiss was tentative, the opposite of what Maura had been expecting from Jane, particularly because of their intense chemistry and Jane's bravado.

Several seconds into their kiss Maura began moving forward again, forcing Jane's upper body to fall backwards as she braced herself on the bed on each side of Jane's rib cage. It wasn't so sudden, however, that the brunette couldn't remain kissing the beautiful woman. Both of them smiled into the kiss. Maura pushed herself upright, pulling back from their kiss, and sat back on her lower calves.

Jane looked at her curiously.

Lifting her arms, Maura placed them just above Jane's knees and pushed Jane's legs down. She then lifted her left knee and placed it on the outside of Jane's thigh, then repeated on the right side.

What Maura was doing was then obvious to Jane and she moved her legs closer together to better accommodate the blonde.

Maura then sat down on Jane's thighs, straddling them.

Strong hands came to rest on jean-clad hips and Jane quirked up an eyebrow. "Oh, but this is definitely forward," Jane tried to joke. A brief look of panic crossed Maura's face. At the look, Jane quickly added, "Joking. I swear. This is definitely very okay."

A smile returned to the blonde's face and she bit her lip.

"God, you're so beautiful," Jane said reverently, her thumbs rubbing lightly over the dark, soft denim beneath them.

With a shy look down, Maura swallowed hard. What had at first been a lustful encounter quickly softened to something more significant. After a moment, she looked back up and met the brunette's gaze, noting the sincerity on her face. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Furthermore, I would like to state for the record that I kissed you first," Jane said before she grinned.

"Mm," Maura hummed, the sound quick and low. "But also let the record show that it was I who set the opportunity for you to do so. It was_ I_ who set my book and your magazine aside and it was _I _who came toward you."

"Yeah, but had you not done so when you did, at some point I would've done this," Jane said as she wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and rolled them both over until Maura was on her back, elbows bent and hands on the bed on each side of her head.

Maua then bent her knees, her feet moving to rest flat against the bed. Jane's stomach was pressed against the apex of her thighs. Jane was propping herself up on her hands, arms straightened, in order to not put most of her weight on top of Maura.

They stared at each other for several long seconds, each breathing deeply, contemplating what was undoubtedly going to happen next.

"Are you really okay with doing this?" Maura asked quietly.

Naturally, Jane answered with a question. "Are you?"

"I don't know if your brother's really okay with us," Maura replied, and then realizing that statement implied that there would be an us in the future, amended, "with what we're doing." Still feeling that her words were awkward, she continued, "Okay with something happening between you and me. Which means I don't know if it means you are really okay with-"

"If Frankie says something's okay, he means it," the brunette explained.

Only one thought crossed Maura's mind. "And if you say something's okay? Is it actually okay?"

Jane sighed. "Maura."

A hesitant, almost fearful, look crossed the blonde's face. "I'm sor-"

"Would you _please_ shut up and let me kiss you?" Jane interrupted, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

* * *

><p>Many minutes later, perhaps five, perhaps fifteen, neither were exactly keeping track, Maura slipped her right hand underneath Jane's T-shirt. Warm fingers skimmed over taut, toned skin and she felt Jane moan just barely against her lips. Encouraged, Maura's hand slowly crept higher, fingertips finally grazing the bottom of Jane's sports bra. Before she went any further, however, she gently stopped Jane and pulled back to look her in the eyes. Searching them briefly, she asked, "Are you sure this is okay? It isn't too fast?"<p>

"Stop overthinking this, Maura," the woman on top of her replied softly but confidently. "If I didn't want you to do something, I'd stop you."

"God, I can't believe how much I want you," Maura breathed out. "We've hardly even known each other for 72 hours and already I'm-" Suddenly she stopped herself, but didn't remove her hand from underneath Jane's shirt.

"Already what?" Jane was suddenly very curious.

Maura closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a couple of seconds. Upon opening them, she quietly said, "Thinking what it would be like to be with you. To...taste you. To touch you."

"Shit," Jane murmured, dropping her forehead against Maura's shoulder.

"Sorry," Maura said quickly. "I'm not usually so audacious, but for some reason...you just make me feel out of control." She began pulling her hand from underneath soft fabric.

"No, keep going," Jane whispered as she lifted her head again to meet the blonde's eyes. "What we're doing feels incredible. I would even be okay with more, but this isn't something I want to rush. My gut tells me that you're one of a kind, and I don't want to mess it up."

Butterflies sprang forth to life in Maura's belly, but it was a feeling she'd gotten used to in the past few days being around Jane. A confirmation that the connection definitely wasn't just one-sided made Maura feel more confident. Darkened hazel eyes locked with nearly black ones, Maura slowly pushed her fingertips back to the bottom of Jane's sports bra. After only a moment's hesitation, she pressed her fingers slightly into Jane's skin and slipped her fingers underneath the stretchy fabric. Short fingernails scraped the underside of the firm breast and she watched as Jane's eyes fluttered closed and she exhaled sharply, her breath catching in her throat. When the tip of her middle finger grazed an already hardened nipple, Maura licked her lips and her tongue tucked itself behind her top teeth for only a moment. She moved her finger slightly to the left and squeezed the tightened nub between her middle and ring fingers.

"Fuck," Jane moaned.

Maura found the expressions on Jane's face throughout her touches to be incredibly arousing and while her body very much wanted more, she knew they couldn't proceed much further. Her self-control, though normally very strong, was already being tested, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. The feeling of Jane's breast underneath her hand felt so natural, so right. More than anything she wanted to roll them both over with Jane on her back, push up the brunette's t-shirt and sports bra, and tease Jane's breasts until the brunette begged for more, but she knew she couldn't do that.

Not yet.

Nevertheless, Maura's hips lifted themselves against Jane and she whimpered at the friction against her clit.

Jane's eyes briefly flashed open at the sound, just enough to catch Maura's gaze, before she leaned down and pressed her lips eagerly against the blonde's. Her tongue slipped easily between swollen lips and the blonde's teeth closed gently around the tip, teasing Jane.

Maura couldn't seem to stop herself from grinding against the brunette while she just kept thinking about pulling off each other's clothes, kissing each other everywhere, moving hands to sensitive places on their bodies...it would feel _so fucking good_ with Jane and Maura knew it. For a moment, she paused their kissing and murmured, "This is insane."

"I know," Jane said, lifting her head again and looking at Maura. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe we should stop?"

After swallowing, Maura softly replied, "Maybe."

"It's not because I don't want this," Jane said. "I do."

"I think maybe we're on the verge of losing control," Maura replied. "At least I am."

"We just met, my family is in the house, this isn't even romantic." Jane's voice was soft, tender. "Even if it's really fucking hot."

"Romantic?" Maura lifted an eyebrow, trying to hide a smile.

Jane blushed.

"Tell me I'm not crazy," Maura gently pleaded. "Tell me this doesn't just feel physical to you. I feel this inexplicable connection."

"If it were just physical, I wouldn't be holding myself back right now," Jane confessed.

"Above the waist," Maura said before she resumed kissing the brunette.

"What?" Jane muttered as she began to place kisses along Maura's jawline toward her right ear.

Maura moaned softly at the feel of Jane's breath across her ear. "That's the rule. We can only touch above the waist."

"Only _touching_?"

The sudden thought of Jane's mouth kissing her chest, circling the tip of her tongue around a nipple, pulling the tightened skin into the warm, wetness of her mouth, it all turned Maura on even more. "Just…anything above the waist," Maura amended.

"So I can also use my mouth...anywhere above the waist?"

Maura hummed in agreement and frantically reached down to the hemline of Jane's shirt, pulling it up as high as she could.

Immediately Jane sat back on her heels and ripped both her shirt and sports bra off over her head before she settled back on top of the blonde.

Hazel eyes widened at the bold removal of both layers of clothing before they focused on hardened nipples, and Maura bit her lip. She moved both her hands to cup Jane's smaller, firm breasts, thumbs rubbing lightly over the stiff peaks. "Perfect," Maura said reverently. With Jane still propped up on straightened arms, Maura scooted herself a little further down the bed and lifted her head to pull one of Jane's nipples between her lips, sucking gently.

This time it was Jane who whimpered.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Jane, wide-eyed with terror, pushed herself off of the honey blonde and scrambled over the side of the bed where no one would be able to readily see her.

"Jane, Maura," Tommy called. "Ma said dinner's ready."

The two young women were breathless, though incredibly relieved that Tommy had only knocked and not just burst into the room to find Frankie's friend with her mouth on his sister's breast.

Clearing her throat, Jane lifted her head just over the edge of the bed and called back, "Yeah, we're coming."

"Mmm," Maura hummed, looking over at the brunette. "Not yet, but one day. Perhaps soon."

It took a moment, surprisingly, for Maura's innuendo to sink into Jane's head. When the words finally hit, Jane smirked. "Are you a third-dater or a fifth-dater?"

Confusion lit up Maura's face.

"Do you wait until after the third date or the fifth before you sleep with a woman?"

Wanting to torture the brunette, Maura said, "Well, I have been known to wait a couple of months before actually…"

Panic and desperation crossed Jane's face.

The reaction was exactly what Maura had been going for. "Buuut, I suppose you'll just have to date me and see what happens." She grinned.

Jane's look suddenly turned smug as climbed back onto the bed and settled on top of Maura once again. She propped herself on her arms and leaned down as if she were going to kiss her. When their faces were only inches apart, Maura closed her eyes and Jane shifted at the last moment to say lowly in the blonde's ear, "Well if I recall correctly, you did say you've already thought about being with me and tasting me. I think you want me sooner rather than later."

Maura whimpered at the thrilling sensation that Jane's breath against her ear caused, which prompted Jane to prop herself back up over Maura. Light brown eyebrows lifted as Maura said, "And you'd be correct, but I have to make you work for it first."

"And how does a woman earn the privilege of getting inside Maura Isles' pants?" The brunette then laughed.

"By first proving that getting into my pants isn't the only thing she wants," Maura replied softly.

Maura's response sobered Jane instantly. After looking into her eyes for several long moments, Jane replied, "I already told you that I don't think what we feel is just physical." She pushed herself up off of Maura and sat back on her heels, still looking at the blonde.

The smile Maura gave Jane, however, was full of nothing but warmth. "Prove it to me anyway. Just because you can."

"Will you go on a date with me next Friday night?" Jane asked quietly.

Maura's brow furrowed in concentration. After a few seconds she said, "Saturday lunch and afternoon?"

"Got another hot date Friday or something?"

"No, I just don't want to stay out late because I study in the mornings and exams will be starting."

"Oh, well, we can wait until you're finished for the semester," Jane suggested.

"You can be my study break Saturday." Maura bit her lip, though her eyes couldn't hide the smile her teeth could.

"I'd love to be your study break," Jane replied, grinning.

"Best study break ever," Maura said.

"Best Thanksgiving break ever."

The familiar fluttering swept through Maura's belly again. "I'm thankful that your brother spilled his drink on me," Maura said quietly.

"And I'm thankful he brought home the woman who could very well be the woman of my dreams," Jane said smoothly.

Maura sat up and, with a grin, briefly reached her right hand around to tap the bottom of Jane's jeans. "Okay, Casanova. Put on your shirt and let's go eat."

* * *

><p>Thoughts? I know it's not full-on smut, but I feel like that wouldn't happen immediately in this scenario.<p> 


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